Bechimo
"Bechimo was built as an agent of change." (The Uncle, to Daav) "Bechimo has an on-board AI. More likely it is an AI. Bechimo -- the ship -- it can fly itself...Lacking a pilot, Bechimo will itself decide where to go, and what to do when it arrives."Saltation, ch 37 (Win Ton, to Theo) History "Bechimo was built as an agent of change. In hindsight, it would seem that we built too early, or were too open regarding our intentions. It may be that, now, Bechimo's proper time is now upon us." Ghost Ship, ch 41 *The self aware ship was created "centuries ago"Saltation, ch 37 by The Builders, including The Uncle (who was an imprinted Builder, until he was struck from the list)Dragon Ship, ch 19 **Probably 500+ years old: "In more than 500 Standard years, no one on the approved list had requested entry. Bechimo entertained the theory that the approved list might be incomplete."Ghost Ship, ch 1 *Win Ton to Theo: "Scout Headquarters is very concerned about that ship. The Bechimo was built when the Terran trading families were trying to reassert their trade routes. It used old tech. Stolen, perhaps dangerous tech. The ship owners and the ship builders hid it because they were under pressure, and in the end they were suppressed." Theo shuddered. *Bechimo's intended crew is a mystery: **"The Regional Terran Trade Cartels had them crew hounded...and The Bechimo was never flown beyond proof flights. Some crew perhaps were forcibly removed and blackmailed... According to the stories, the crew meant for Bechimo was raided and arrested, and a lien put on the ship, whereupon the ship disappeared. Rumors said it could fly rings around other trade ships..." *So..."Bechimo had been abandoned, cut off from community, ordered to save himself from enemies. Ordered to abandon his crew."Dragon Ship, ch 1 (But Bechimo didn't reveal who told him to hide.) Design & Capability OLD TECH: Uncle says, "She's engineered of old tech and new, and it's not just the Scouts who want her dead, or taken."Ghost Ship, ch 3 *Win Ton to Theo: "...these Builders dared to use some of the old tech that went into the original Terran fleets that destroyed each other in the big war. And things even older and more dangerous." *Bechimo knows when an enemy employs old tech: "We are among those who would wield old weapons and devices as if they understood them. They have attempted to suborn myself and the keys. We are under attack, with no violence obvious to outsiders."Dragon Ship, ch 32 **But Bechimo has a subetheric control device, placed on Bechimo long ago, by Mentor Jermone Joyita: "I am placing this item, which is a communication module permitting access to the subetheric reaches...to devices used in the building of autonomous and semi-autonomous units found here and there throughout space... These permit you, Bechimo, to command and control those items, and to access other levels of your own memory" **Bechimo "reached out to the subetheric units carried by the enemy and offered them the opportunity to work powerfully" -- creating a gravity wall together.Dragon Ship, ch 35 STEALTH CAPACITY: Masking off chambers and piloting boards on the ship: “The Uncle himself designed and oversaw installation of many of the masking systems. It is my estimation that what should not be found or seen by others will not be.”''Dragon Ship, ch 5'' *Ghost mode (cloak, stealth), with ability to read transmissions and data from ships and port: **"in Bechimo's ultraquiet fashion they slid into realspace...they held off announcing themselves until they could take a good look at the situation." **He arrived with as small a jump signature as possible, some energies baffled and dispersed across the transition itself. He pulled in external information... Transmissions converted into data streams...The Gathering Edge, ch 23 BONDING CAPACITY: '''Ability to bond intimately with the captain, a procedure involving "wires as thin as cat whiskers" *Some sexual implications: "Her blood heated..riding a crescendo of ecstacy, but not alone, never again alone, her lover's voice murmuring in her ear...they were one, entwined, indivisible." * The bonded captain gains full ship functionality and awareness, Bechimo's thoughts, knowledge, abilities, and secrets. Dragon Ship, ch 38 **Not "bonding" per se, but Bechimo can monitor captain and crew via ship key ����Ghost Ship, ch 16 **-- can monitor anyone aboard Ship -- heart rate, perspiration, etc. '''CREATION: Bechimo can produce new Sentient Beings with his stored personalities *Example, Admiral Bunter (intended to be a shadow personality, of Bechimo) Dragon Ship, ch 39 *But I don't think this is how Bechimo created his avatar, B. Joyita (see section below) SUPER JUMP: "This thing that Bechimo does -- translating she calls it -- I don't know how it's done, but it's quick, quicker than jump, and she can translate to the surface of a planet."Ghost Ship, ch 26 *Scholar Caylon's theory: "Not a new system of Jump, but a much finer control of standard Jump than has been previously observed....In the meantime, I believe Aelliana is designing her own model." Ghost Ship, ch 32. Her theory is based on Bechimo's Jump data, from Theo and Val Con. Ghost Ship, ch 31 *Later, Theo tells Kara: "The scholar thought the drive settings might be nonstandard, and also wondered after some subetheric boosting."Dragon Ship, ch 33 MEDICAL: A healing unit and a Remastering Chamber (one and the same?) *hidden in a secret room, behind an apparent bulkhead wall *"It is not a mere med unit like the best ships and hospital have. It is a med unit of the type the Scouts have long abjured...it uses forbidden, even secret technology." *A ship key can release pain killers and boost energy, if in contact with skin.Ghost Ship, ch 16 OTHER: * Bechimo occasionally has access to "the hunch engine"...working off the interplay between memory, thought, and sensors." *Various modules: "The Protocol Module burned bright red; Logic displayed a nauseous green; Rules an ominous, roiling purple. Morality was conspicuous by its lack of alarm."Dragon Ship, ch 28 Crew *Bechimo's crew are all pilots: *Pilot Theo Waitley is the "Over Pilot" having been given the key by Win Ton. **She becomes the fully bonded Captain. Dragon Ship, ch 38 *Pilot Clarence O'Berin began as "Less Pilot" sitting second. Ghost Ship He became executive officer, because he'd proven to have a good head for business and people, and at some ports "Admin won't deal with just a pilot, they'll want the Exec" Dragon Ship, ch 4 He is Daav's peer (about 65) with blue eyes, and a trim physique. "He added red to his hair... left enough gray for authority, but not so much that someone seeking advantage would automatically assume he was weak." *Scout Win Ton yo'Vala: "a Scout pilot was the equivalent of a master. He was, indeed, qualified to test candidate pilots and assign rank."The Gathering Edge, ch 24 (He was the first person to board Bechimo in centuries, gaining a key for himself and Theo, but he paid for it, tortured by the Department of Interior. Calls Theo "Sweet Mystery" and was her first lover.Saltation *Pilot Kara van'Erith: Technician, engineer, mechanic, also handling medical, hydroponics, and sitting third board -- until Win Ton recuperated enough to take it. . (befriended Theo at piloting academy, has sex with Theo occasionally) *Hevelin, the old norbear, ambassador to norbears, ship's empath. (See Companion Animals. **Bechimo is certified as the Pilot Guild's Embassy Mobile to Norbears (Pilot Theo Waitley as official guardian of norbear ambassador Hevelin). Dragon Ship, ch 31 **Hevelin met Daav and Aelliana about 30 years ago Mouse & Dragon *B. Joyita, comm officer, interpreter, etc (see below, and Joyita page) *Chimmy: nickname given to Bechimo by Clarence O’Berin, based on "the brothers Chimmy and Chack. Chimy had the looks, he did." Bechimo doesn't like the moniker, but then, he has a name for Clarence: "I have not accepted this name as a referent, Less Pilot." *Open position: Laughing Cat needs a Trade Officer, according to Clarence. B. Joyita *Bechimo creates an avatar of himself, "My Presence Project" .Dragon Ship, ch 6 **B. Joyita, Comunications Officer"Dragon Ship, ch 9 "began as a subroutine established by Bechimo *Named for Bechimo's beloved mentor, Jermone Joyita, introduced to Bechimo by The UncleDragon Ship, ch 19 **In retrospect Bechimo recognizes Jermone Joyita as "his father"Dragon Ship, ch 28 "When he thought of his becoming, Joyita came to mind. The Builders had been input, keyed in stone...But Joyita, he had learned." *Joyita interacts with the crew and, to port authorities, is the comm officer. *His image: "A beardless man with tight trimmed dark hair, thin lips, wide mouth, and a brown, hard-used face...a touch of stubbled beard...a hint of a moustache...the shadow of a scar on the bridge of the broad nose....two rings of some silvery brown metal...a wide bracelet of the same metal...his jacket of antique cut and color...signs of scuff and wear, some so familiar that Theo understood them to be transposed from her own jacket, inherited from Rig Tranza." " *"Jermone Joyita’s voice was less sharp-edged than those of the Founders, besides Uncle. Bechimo now could identify the burr and half-tongued habits of the Wikesworlds" *The original Jermone Joyita wore rings as part of his Wikes culture . *As B. Joyita becomes "real" he gains rings and bracelets. "that tantalizing hint that Bechimo and Joyita were seperate, individual."Dragon Ship, interlude, or ch 36 in audiobook format **Joyita becomes his own person: "Truly, I am not Bechimo, but my own self, Joyita." ** “Under the various..challenges of our voyage, I learned and grew...In theory, I should not have been able to grow into my own person...I was not even a download, only a subroutine that needed to do...more...When Bechimo accepted Theo as his True Captain and the bonding was enacted -- that was when the final split occurred. I felt it happen and I knew...Bechimo and I have run exhaustive tests and analyses. We are both stable. We are each unique. We are coexisting in the same environment. It is...unprecedented; nothing like it is mentioned in the literature."Gathering Edge, ch 7 *Scout Win Ton creates a piloting exam for Joyita, who aims for Provisional First Class, the first piloting test for sentient non-organic beings *Joyita receives help developing a credible presence, and a history, with papers.The Gathering Edge Bechimo & The Uncle *The Uncle was imprinted to Bechimo, until he was struck from the Lists Dragon Ship, ch 19 **"I have some paternal concern for Bechimo, despite my place on the Builder's Lists. It is not healthy for a social being to be long alone..." **"I believe in Bechimo, because I stood on her deck." Saltation, ch 40 (but Bechimo prefers the masculine pronoun)Ghost Ship *The Uncle was a member of Bechimo's Founders''The Gathering Edge'', ch 26 *Uncle is banned from Bechimo: "The Uncle is on the disallowed list" ... "Who made up this list?"..."The Builders." Ghost Ship, ch 21 *Jermone Joyita to Bechimo, centuries ago: "It is mete that I should not know all the secrets the Uncle has told to you, nor all that the Builders require... Bechimo's Rules on Korval Rules Search Results from Dragon Ship, ch 3Dragon Ship, ch 3 *"Tree-and-Dragon: Mark designating Clan Korval, Liaden kin group comprised of founding Lines yos’Phelium and yos’Galan; bel’Tarda later incorporated as minor Line. ALSO Registered Trade Mark of Clan Korval, operating as Korval Trade, Tree-and-Dragon Family, Dragontree Ltd. NEW: Surebleak Clan Loop Unlimited No Warnings are associated with this Mark." *"Clan Korval” Warning Level One-point-five: Pay cash. Pay promptly. If contract, adhere to all terms." *“'yos’Phelium'” Warning Level Two-point-five: Pay cash. Pay promptly. Disruption of causality may occur, see notes. Contract not advised, see notes. Quick disengage, see notes." (? ?) *“'yos’Galan'” Warning Level One: Pay cash. Pay promptly. If contract, adhere to all terms. Caution in regard to association with yos’Phelium. See notes. Caution with regard to yos’Phelium." References Category:Characters Category:Ships